


Ninjago: Secrets and Seekers

by GARMADON



Category: Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: (so tags to be added), Gen, Ok I better say this up front somewhere sorry updates are so spotty but I am writing this actively, everybody is in it but not yet.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2020-07-09 05:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19882147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GARMADON/pseuds/GARMADON
Summary: HUNTIK AU IS ROLLING OUT...For people who haven't seen huntik (everyone) they have people who can summon "titans" using magic necklaces and also do normal magic. Lots of fun Lloyd here is one of those people. It's all wack so please be patient with me.





	1. 1

“Mister Garmadon!”  


“Huh?” Lloyd jerked awake at the sound of his name, startled. Apparently, he had fallen asleep in class. He had been having quite an odd dream- running around in some place called  _ Ninjago _ , looking for talking snakes to buy him candy.  


“Lloyd, if this material is so boring to you, I’m sure we can arrange something more challenging.”

“No- it's fine- I’m sorry, professor Wu.” Lloyd muttered, a little too embarrassed to speak up any more. Luckily, the bell chose that moment to ring and spare him from any more awkward excuses, allowing him to grab his things and rush out of the room.

School over, Lloyd sighed, knowing he had nowhere to go but back home to the waiting arms of his textbooks. At least the walk home was pleasant, the sun high in the sky accompanied by a cool, gentle wind. Strange, though- Lloyd walked home by himself, and there was no one out and about at this hour, but the street felt as if it was absolutely packed, like a parade was coming through. Suddenly eager to get out of the full-empty road, Lloyd hurried into his apartment building, but stopped short when he noticed the flag on his mailbox was up. Inside was the usual assortment of grocery flyers and lawn service coupons and a letter.

Up in his room, Lloyd cut the envelope open and pulled out a piece of paper with something hard folded into it. The first thing that caught his eye was the script, a thick, curly hand, unusually old-fashioned- his father's. All it said was in the middle, where a necklace was taped. Next to it was written “Igninja” followed by a drawing of a little cat with a happy face, pointing to the pendant with a somewhat wiggly arrow. Tired as he was, Lloyd decided now was not the time for his dad's weirdness and pulled out his phone.

It took a few rings, but the click and “Garmadon here,” came soon enough.

“Dad? It's Lloyd.” The man still hadn't discovered caller ID, apparently. “I got the… Thing you sent me.”

“Really? So fast!” The change in his father’s attitude was instant and obvious as he lit up at his son’s voice, and Lloyd was at the same time embarrassed and worried. His father babied him enormously, and it could be a bit much even at 16 and over the phone, but at the same time Garmadon was typically rather bright (and loved using the phone for some reason), so it normally wasn’t as obvious.  


“Uh, yeah. The postal service is really something-” Absentmindedly glancing at the papers in his hands, Lloyd noticed the return address was somewhere in germany. “Anyway, dad, what  _ is _ it? Like, a necklace, I guess, but why?” Since he went to boarding school, his father  _ would _ sometimes bring him things, but they were typically bundled together and dropped off in person whenever Garmadon was in italy again.

There was a second of silence, but just as Garmadon began to speak, there was a sudden, harsh bloom of static, and Lloyd could just barely make out something about ‘keeping safe’ and ‘coming down there’ before he was suddenly hung up on. Bad connexion, probably. Whatever.  


Slightly uncomfortable after the shock of the static, which in itself was an intensely disturbing sound, Lloyd quickly switched his attention to the necklace itself, not wanting to dwell on a normal signal issue any more than he had. The leather cord was incredibly worn, though the pendant it bore was quite polished. It was a golden sword in the shape of a dragon breathing fire, which was admittedly super cool. What was with that weird word, though? “Igninja…” Lloyd muttered, holding the pendant up to his eye when a sudden flash of light made him flinch and drop it. When the brightness finally faded, Lloyd blinked several times to clear the spots from his vision, but no matter how many times as he rubbed his eyes, the tiger he saw in his living room wouldn’t go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONT THINK ABOUT HOW STUPID THE THING IS the other titan names are less stupid and it's okay if they are anyway because real titan names are stupid


	2. 2

Based on the fact that a magic tiger had just teleported into his apartment, Lloyd quickly deduced that this was a dream. He stayed rooted where he was anyway- dying in a dream might not be real, but it still sucks, and he had no interest in being mauled by a wild tiger of all things- though the more he stared at it, he noticed it wasn’t  _ exactly _ a tiger. It was  _ huge _ , and besides the slightly different shape of the body and the way the stripes faded out in some areas, it also sported a short and very strange-looking mane that seemed almost to be made of fire. The way it flickered and moved was mesmerising…

Which was when the window exploded, the second terrifying surprise in as many minutes. Flinching automatically, Lloyd tried to determine as fast as he could whether standing still and waiting for the suited men climbing into his living room- who were apparently equally shocked they were actually trying to go  _ into _ a room with a  _ giant tiger _ \- to do whatever they were going to do to him was worse than making a break for it, and probably getting killed by the tiger-thing. Before he could decide, however, the thing apparently decided for him, ducking its head low before charging at him. Lloyd braced for its claws… And got firmly shoved in the chest. It wasn't  _ attacking _ him, it was trying to push him outside! When Lloyd looked at it, he felt like he could hear it saying "come on,  _ go _ ".

“They’re trying to get away!  **_Augerfrost!_ ** ”

Lloyd yelped as the tiger-thing shoved him again, just barely pushing him out of the path of the bolt of ice that had been fired at his head. “I guess you’re the better option…” He muttered as he turned and ran out of his apartment and down the stairs, his apparent new friend following close behind. As they burst into the lobby, it ran in front of him, ducking its head in a silent command. What the hell, Lloyd thought, and swung his leg over its back, gripping its mane gingerly, as this close it looked even more like fire. The second he was on, it bolted out the front door, ignoring the screaming italians and tourists fleeing from it in all directions. Glancing back, Lloyd noticed the men were still hot on their tail, with ever more pouring out from the alleyways as they passed them. Still, even people who apparently had magic powers and could jump two storeys couldn’t keep up with a twelve-foot-long big cat at full speed, and after a while of running through a winding series of back alleys with no terrified passer-by to give away their position, they seemed to be in the clear. But the tiger-thing didn’t stop, although it did slow down, still moving determinedly towards a large house, walled off, simply pulling itself over instead of stopping. Only in the courtyard of the house did it allow Lloyd to disembark, and he immediately went and leaned against the wall, trying to steady himself and remember that this was fine because it was all some crazy dream. Probably based off of a bad movie he forgot or something. But even if it wasn’t real, Lloyd had still had a long day, and when the enormous boa constrictor dropped around his shoulders he gave in and screamed. 

“Ssstop it!” Immediately its tail was around his mouth, though loosely, not  _ yet _ trying to crush his head. Lloyd obliged, eager to hold onto the ‘yet’. 

Still, the nonchalance was irritating. “If a  _ giant snake _ jumps on you and then  _ talks to you _ , I think you get to scream.” He said, pushing its coils off him as best he could. It seemed fine with letting him go for now, slithering into a pile in front of him. It really was  _ huge _ \- what was this, attack of the 50ft petting zoo? 

The boa made a strange sound, spinning the tip of its tail in a circle. It took Lloyd a second to realise the sound was laughter, or at least meant to be. “It was jussst a joke, man, cool off!” It stopped and stared at him, and Lloyd saw that its left eye was a shocking electric blue, the same colour that shot down its much darker blue body like a web of cracks. “Who  _ are _ you, anyway?”

If that was his idea of a joke… “Shouldn’t you know? Everyone else has- it’s  _ my _ dream, after all.” 

It laughed again and shook its head, pulling up a bit higher so it came up about a foot above Lloyd, then swung around and made its way to the front door, managing to open it somehow. “Well? Do you jussst want to ssstand outssside all day?” It said, looking back at him, then turned again and vanished inside. Lloyd noticed that it deliberately avoided acknowledging the tiger-thing, which had settled down where it stopped and was intently studying its claws. Lloyd shrugged. Guess that one doesn’t talk. 

Heading inside, Lloyd made his way toward the one room that was lit- and the one room that had the tail of a giant snake poking out of it, wagging anxiously. The room was a kitchen, steam pouring out a recently used kettle, and the boa was partly piled on multiple chairs, talking rapidly to…

“You wouldn’t believe it, Ign-”

“ _ Professor Wu?  _ I guess this means you’re trying to wake me up in the real world, huh? Man, I gotta stop falling asleep in class...”

Wu chuckled, though there was a strange edge to it, and set down his tea, turning to look at the teen that had wandered into his home. “I’m afraid you are mistaken. This is no dream, Lloyd- you can’t get out of your destiny that easily.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think this is bad pacing watch huntik. Thanks.


	3. 3

"You know this kid, Master Wu?" 

“ **_Destiny?_ ** ” Lloyd was absolutely incredulous and more than a little angry at how random and  _ cryptic _ everything had been, but something about the way the man sat there, calmly looking at him as though he couldn’t even see him, made him hold back the rest of the outburst- for now. Besides anything else, Professor/Master/Something Wu  _ did _ decide if he failed history. 

Wu waved his hand dismissively.”Fulgeere, don’t you have anything to do besides mind other people’s business?” Chastised, the snake slunk out into the hallway, taking an impressively long time to do so. “Yes, Lloyd, your destiny.” He pinched Lloyd’s earlobe, a little too roughly, and the act was at once massively discomfiting and extremely familiar. It was something his father would often do, much more gently, ‘you see, you  _ are _ lucky. Things will turn out well for you,’ he would say. “You see, you  _ are _ lucky. You have something in store for you much greater than just scraping along at some boarding school-.” rude, by the way, Lloyd’s grades were just fine, it was just his sleep schedule that wasn’t- “I had no idea it would be you until it brought you here. I can’t believe that I just  _ happened _ to be in the right place... “

Something in his tone suggested he was lying, but about  _ what _ ?  _ Everything _ he was saying sounded ridiculous. “That  _ what  _ would be me?” Lloyd almost wished the snake were still here- he felt like it had a hard time keeping its mouth shut, though that might not be a good thing in a thirty-foot-long carnivore. 

The old man actually  _ sighed _ , like not knowing your cosmic fate was the ultimate bad manners. “After your training, when you are ready, I can tell you everything.” He silenced Lloyd’s protests immediately, refusing to pause. “Yes, training. You can’t go back there now, not unprepared, not with the Organization looking for you. I can teach you how to be a ninja, how to use the amulets.” 

Lloyd grimaced immediately. Not a huge fan of moving in with a random old man and no one knowing where he was, even if there really were people hunting him. “Uh… I don’t know if that’s-”

Apparently Wu knew how unconvincing he had sounded. “Igninja will protect you no matter what- I would think it’s easier for it to take on an old man than an army of elite Organization Suits. Fulgeere can show you to a room when you make up your mind.” With that, he picked up his tea and turned away.

That still wasn’t entirely reassuring, but it’s not like there were a ton of options. Apparently dismissed, Lloyd left the kitchen, kind of unsure what exactly he was supposed to do now that there wasn’t any immediate danger. Through the still-open front door, he spotted ‘Igninja’- which was totally not a real name, even for an animal- and headed towards the only individual he had met that day who hadn’t said anything weird to him. As Lloyd approached, it raised its massive head to, apparently sleepily pleased to see him. For the first time, he noticed that it had something caught between its teeth- the necklace his father had sent him. “I guess that’s what everyone means by amulet. Let me just…” He gently made to extricate the pendant, and the enormous jaws were obligingly opened, which was more than a little frightening. But it had apparently not changed its mind on saving his life, and Lloyd managed to get the necklace out without incident. This close to its face, he couldn’t help but notice thin lines of scarring over its eyes, one over the right that went straight down and a darker, curved line that forked across the left. Not surprising, although he got the feeling somehow they weren’t battle wounds. 

Lloyd suddenly felt an immense sense of ease brought on by this creature, partially on fire, almost as tall as him sitting down and strong enough to swat his head off his body. It might have been all those things, but it was also  _ safe _ , he knew in the very core of his being. Jokingly, he put his hand out, and to his surprise it shoved its head into his palm like a common housecat. He laughed and pet it, shoving the pendant into his pocket with the other hand. Not dropping  _ that _ again. Suddenly it yawned hugely, and Lloyd caught it immediately, doing his best big cat yawn back. He laughed again and settled against its side, as it seemed to be making room for him, stroking its head again as he set down. Its mane still seemed a bit unnerving to get close to, but he had noticed earlier though it was warm his hand just passed through it like water, no burns. The heat from its body was incredibly relaxing, and though Lloyd only meant to rest for a minute, he soon felt the day overtaking him and drifted off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more of a cutscene than a chapter. Who would not fall asleep on the floor if Wu talked to them


	4. 4

"...On, come on, come on and do the weekend whip!" 

Lloyd groaned as he shoved his hand into his pocket, his neck not exactly happy with how he had ended up sleeping. He had apparently been out for a couple hours at least, as the sky had grown dim and the courtyard was lit primarily by tigerlight. For all Wu had said about his safety, leaving him unconscious on the ground didn’t seem like an amazing bit of protection. What had he been doing? Oh, right. The phone. 

“Uh, Lloyd here…” 

“ _Lloyd!_ ” His father. Who else would it be? “Are you alright? Where are you?” Garmadon’s voice had a pretty strong tinge of urgency, fading as it was. How long had the phone been ringing?

Still, it was Lloyd who was owed answers most. “Dad, what’s going _on?_ ” 

He clearly hated having to say it, but said it anyway. “I wish I could tell you, son. I’m just glad what little protection I could give you seems to have been enough, for now. You _are_ safe?”

“Yeah, I guess. For some reason it took me to my _teacher’s_ house and now he’s talking about training me or whatever- and he has this giant snake that talks?” His dad obviously knew what was going on, so Lloyd felt it was safe to jump right into the talking animals. 

“Your… Teacher?”

Yeah, Professor Wu-”

“ _Wu?_ Long white beard? Always drinking tea? Listen, Lloyd, you need his training, but my brother lies every time he opens his mouth. Don’t tell him anything you don’t need to, even if it’s just for your own peace of mind.” _That_ was his way of saying Wu might be the mysterious uncle his father sometimes talked about? Their family really did _not_ excel at communication. Suddenly there was another burst of static like before, although at least it didn’t just end the call this time. “Ugh. I have to go, son, but make sure you call me again tomorrow, alright? Stay safe. Love you.” His father seemed like he had more to say, and was obviously worried, but it was clear that he was being rushed so Lloyd let it go. 

This had all been a _lot_ for one day, and Lloyd simultaneously felt he should be more and less upset. Considering who his father was, most of the things he had seen weren’t actually that surprising. But he had learnt over the years that their family was the exception and not the rule, so maybe they should be? Plus, learning your history teacher was secretly a magic ninja _and_ your long lost uncle _and_ maybe stalking you(?) would be a bit much no matter what. If Wu _was_ either of those last two things, he did have a pretty solid reason to distrust him like his father had said. But he had also said Lloyd should accept Wu’s training, and there seemed to be little other option. Other than maybe getting kidnapped, which wasn’t super compelling. 

In any case, his companion didn’t seem at all to mind being used as a pillow, and Lloyd strongly did not want to go into the pitch blackness of that house alone, so he stretched out in a way that _wouldn’t_ destroy his neck and settled back down. If the forces of destiny could wait for him to have a nap, they could wait for him to get a full night’s sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this done for like a week and forgot about it oops I will try to post the next one in like a couple days lmao. Lloyd nap interlude


	5. 5

It was pretty safe to say Lloyd’s best friend was now a giant talking snake with teeth the size of his finger. Considering that was by virtue of being his  _ only _ friend, this was either super cool or really, really sad. 

The first full day he had been here, Wu had woken him up at like six in the morning, stuck him in the dojo and explained what he was supposed to do once, sat on the floor drinking tea for ten minutes and then left. It was that snake who had slithered in a few minutes later and actually helped Lloyd figure out the moves he was supposed to be learning, with a constant stream of commentary to go with it. That initial assessment had been right- he would only shut up on pain of death, and even that only worked sometimes. 

Lloyd learned more in that one afternoon than he learned from Wu in the entire week. The man seemed to think it would only be helpful to explain things if it startled you, and once you accepted it a lot of being a “seeker”- one of the few things Wu actually  _ had _ told him- wasn’t all that surprising. You make a thing come out of the amulet and then it fights other things. Pretty self-explanatory. The one thing that  _ didn’t _ make sense was that Lloyd was being hunted because he was “green”, whatever that meant. He had jokingly asked if he should change his clothes and Wu just stared at him like he was an idiot until he left the room. 

His new friend didn’t seem any more informed on this than he was, but he was perfectly willing to tell Lloyd about any manner of other things. He mainly seemed to know about video games, which was interesting for a creature that didn’t even have limbs- this was apparently due to some kind of plank setup- but he did get serious, once, on that first day when Lloyd had asked his name. 

“It’s Jay.” He said it unusually sharply, his mind clearly somewhere else.

Lloyd smiled. “Lloyd. How come Wu didn’t just call you that earlier?” Immediate head shake on that. 

There was that weird sound again- Jay’s ‘laugh’. “I know who  _ you _ are! But let’s keep this between us, huh?” The meaning there was obvious- don’t tell Wu. Strange thing to say about the guy you live with, but what was one more name among the pantheon he already had? It was pretty easy not to say ‘Jay’ in front of Wu when you could there was Fulgeere, Nunchucks of Lightning,  _ Master _ of Lightning, etc. 

After that Lloyd quickly began to feel at ease around him. Funny how the things here that could kill him in an instant felt the safest. In fact, Jay apparently having instantly gotten over his attitude about the tiger- liger! thanks google- the three of them had settled into a sort of nest arrangement in the empty garage, though Lloyd technically was supposed to have a real bedroom. He had dragged in some mats from the dojo and now that was his bed, a pillow that was literally on fire and an enormous serpent coiled over them like the world’s scariest anxiety blanket. In the daytime he did katas for hours, practicing to be important somehow, and in the evenings he goofed off with talking animals, all while a judgemental old man told him not to leave the house. It was like being the action movie version of a disney princess. He called his father frequently and Garmadon had found the idea hilarious when it was brought up, spouting off a number of kung-fu fairytale parodies. That had been one of the few times his father had been on speaker, and together with Jay they were an unstoppable fountain of puns that were, objectively, bad, but still popped into his head randomly for days afterward. 

But besides being harangued by his father, Lloyd didn’t really have anything going on. He knew he was preparing for some kind of mission, but Wu still hadn’t decided to tell him what it was, so all he could do was train and wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GUESS I should say, for the benefit of wu fans, sorry that I made wu lowkey evil. but 1) I hate him 2) he's filling the role of 2 characters so that is kind of why. he's not exactly evil anyway so much as, like, he has his own motivations. whether THOSE are evil can be judged on your own dime  
> the next chapter is actually READY this time but I will post it in a few days to give myself a bit of a grace period


	6. 6

“Lloyd! Change. We are leaving soon.” 

Wu had hurled a bundle of clothes at him right in the middle of a kick and Lloyd twisted, nearly knocked off balance. There was  _ metal _ in there, for god’s sake. 

“Leaving? Where?” Lloyd was occasionally allowed to come along on grocery runs, but this was the first time he had hurled some kind of bright green ninja suit at him. 

“You’ll  _ see _ . Get ready!” The old man was already gone, so Lloyd just went to get dressed. Hood and all he felt a bit silly, so he pulled it back and stuck a pair of normal pants in his backpack. Apparently Wu had decided he was  _ finally  _ ready for a ninja mission and  _ still _ wasn’t going to tell him what he was supposed to be doing. Lloyd sighed. “Guess we’re taking the bounty. Come on, boy.” The sword of fire got its titan back, and Lloyd was suddenly aware his gi had no pockets.

The Destiny’s Bounty was Wu’s car, an ancient thug of a vehicle that felt like it had come directly out of a car chase movie fifty years ago. It would occasionally make deeply worrying sounds whenever they went out, but it also didn’t seem to have any problem pushing the speed limit as much as possible, as Wu apparently considered himself exempt from traffic laws. For the first time, Jay was coming along, and Lloyd jokingly buckled the seatbelt over part of him.

Once they were all in, heading to wherever, Wu started to explain- another first. 

“Long before time had a name, the First Seeker created this realm. After leaving the first realm, a land of constant war, he wanted this place to be a place of balance. To that end, he also made two sons, one with the power to create and the other with the power to destroy. For centuries, they lived in harmony, training the first generation of seekers and all that followed in the powers their father had gifted them- the titans- in order to protect the peace of this new world.

“But one day, the destructive brother was bitten by the Great Devourer, the incarnation of evil, and its venom began to change him. Corrupt him. It was then the First Seeker created the legendary titans, the only beings powerful enough to destroy one of his kind. He had hoped they would never be used, and sealed each one away around the world, as their power could only be unleashed when they were united.” 

Jay shifted rather noisily at this part, and Lloyd turned to see what his deal was. He looked about as uncomfortable as a snake could look, but a little lost too.

“The destructive brother eventually succumbed to the venom and founded the Organization, a group of evil and dangerous seekers dedicated to finding the legendary titans so that he can remake the world in his image. The Huntik Foundation was made to oppose him, but there was little we could do before we found you.  _ Now _ , we’re going to seek out the Scythe of Quakes.”

“Scythe of Quakes… That sounds just like-”

“That’s correct. Igninja and Fulgeere are two of the legendary titans, fire and lightning. All that remains is earth and ice, and the balance can finally be secured once and for all.” 

Destroying all evil didn’t really seem to be ‘balance’, but this was the most Wu had told him about what was actually going on, so Lloyd left it alone. Already having half of the ultimate weapon and going to just  _ pick up _ the next quarter seemed  _ way _ too easy, though-

“Once we arrive, you will have to take them and venture into the Caves of Despair to find the Scythe of Quakes. Many travellers have died there, and the caves are totally unmapped. To find your way you will have to have faith and seek out its power, but beware- the caves are extremely unstable. Do  _ not _ try to use the Scythe.”

Ah. Not easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next one is long. by my standards.


	7. 7

“This is ridiculous!”

“Jay-”

“No, Lloyd, come on! These caves are probably gonna fall down on us any moment, let’s just get out of here and let it crush some Suits instead-”

“Jay! There’s something up ahead. And stop  _ yelling _ !” Ironically,  _ that _ made a shower of dirt cascade over them, and the caves rumbled menacingly. Jay shot Lloyd a threatening glance, one of the few expressions he could send through loud and clear. Half-smiling, he ducked his head apologetically. 

There was a sort of hum in the air- an actual hum, musical, not the buzz of tension. The cavern they were heading towards was lit by a weird orange light, barely radiating out but feeling almost physically present. Its source wasn't apparent, but it obviously had something to do with the chunk of green crystal jutting out from the back of the cave, clearly not the source of the light itself but like a solidified version of the same energy. The hum was loudest here, though still indistinct. Obviously, there was the Scythe, poked absurdly into the crystal like a tiny pickaxe. There was no way it could have actually caused the massive crack spreading out from where it was wedged. 

Jay had been slung loosely around his shoulders to keep warm in the caves, as there was a strange quality to them that seemed almost to still the blood, but as Lloyd warily approached the crystal he slid from his back like a shawl. It was slightly warm, and the sound it made as Lloyd pulled out the amulet was deeply unpleasant. The second it was in his hand, the humming stopped, and there was a sort of sliding noise. The cavern started to rumble, larger and larger chunks of grit showering from the roof. The enormous serpent behind him rolled his eye as best he could- admittedly, he  _ had _ mentioned something about booby traps earlier, though that barely counted- and tossed his head, urging Lloyd to hurry up. 

It was too late, though- the first part of the cavern to go was the entrance, lost in a heap of stone as the very mountain itself seemed to move around them, twisting their only exit shut. 

“Titan of  _ earth _ , Lloyd,” Said Jay, not without a trace of hysteria, “come  _ on _ …” 

The glow had been steadily fading since Lloyd took the amulet and the crystal was crumbling, something he was glad he could barely see. Everything about that stone was strangely uncomfortable, almost grotesque. In any case, he wasn’t about to go all ‘oh, Master Wu said’ when they were about to be crushed by a cave-in, but there was still a problem with the idea. “ _ How _ ?"

"Just say the name!" 

Okay, great. Only 'Sword of Fire' never worked, so it was a safe bet 'Scythe of Quakes' wouldn't do anything either. Wu had specifically  _ not _ told him it was called Roterran so that he couldn't accidentally use it, as if he would somehow just randomly activate something that had 'quake' in the name while underground- wait. "...Roterran?" 

Judging by the flash, that was definitely it. As it faded- always blinding on the first summon, it seemed- Lloyd was fervently grateful this cavern was so much larger than the others. The titan of earth was mammoth, literally, its legs and tusks appearing to be solid magma emerging from a cracked stone crust. If this had been a smaller chamber, it would have just collapsed immediately and that would be that.

...Actually, the thing seemed a lot smaller than Lloyd had been led to believe a mammoth would be, but compared to a teenage boy that was still really big. Did  _ everything _ have to be big enough to crush his head like an egg? Something to ask Wu about- if this  _ cave _ didn't do the crushing first. 

Speaking of that fact that they were  _ in mortal danger _ , this new titan wasn't all that interested. It looked at him for a moment, heavy brows giving it a somewhat displeased expression, and flicked its tail in what seemed to be a sort of "move over" gesture. Lloyd complied, sort of dragging Jay along with the various points he had been wrapped in snake, and suddenly the rocks which had been blocking their exit were yanked out, hovering in the air for a moment before just plummeting to the ground. 

Jay had absolutely no patience for any of it. "Okay, it's open, let's gooo!" The impacts around the cave had destabilised it even more, ever larger chunks of stone falling all around them. He hurriedly pulled himself back up around Lloyd's shoulders and neck- not a situation Lloyd was entirely happy with right about now, considering he was pretty sure his leg and arms were already bruised from the boa's nerves- but it served its purpose and he bolted through the tunnels, lengths of serpent in his arms. 

Apparently taking like an hour to find a tiny piece of jewellery in a totally unmapped labyrinth was too long to wait even for Wu, who barely spared them an annoyed glance before going back to whatever weird game show he had been watching on his phone. "I take it you used the Scythe?" 

"Only because picking it up started a cave-in! You could have said it was going to be booby-trapped." Lloyd ran a hand through his hair, spraying dirt over the seat. This apparently wasn't worth a response, leaving them in awkward silence for a few moments as Wu's show finished before it was filled with the their terrible car driving over even worse 'roads'. Although the old man apparently couldn’t care less about school if it wasn’t paying him, he did retain from his time as a normal teacher an unfaltering ability to make you feel like you were least important of 500 people he had to see that day. He could keep that up for  _ weeks _ \- it was going to be a long drive home. 

The amulet was still clutched in his hand, the strange swirls of it printed onto his palm. With the Sword and Nunchucks already around his neck, he was going to have to add some pockets to this outfit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> roterran is the only titan name I actually put thought into all the others just popped into my head. Only the best for him


	8. 8

For all the time he had spent instructing Lloyd to do absolutely nothing and “remain patient”, Wu sure was in a hurry all of a sudden. It seemed like they had barely gotten to sleep before they were on the move again, this time for the Shurikens of Ice. Obviously, it was cold, and now he was actually  _ glad _ for Jay wrapped around his shoulders like a living scarf, even if he was a heat leech. The Foundation had had a boat waiting for them to sail out to nowhere, that apparently being one of the dozens of random abilities the old man possessed. 

Steering kept Wu’s attention focused on the water, and Lloyd was glad for it. It was more than cold here- sheets of ice hung around them like ancient monoliths splitting the sea, those further away vaguely present in the fog as dark giants. There was a pressure, like a vacuum up against your skin, that just grew stronger as they approached wherever they were going. The chill was not merely an effect but an  _ object _ , inserted surgically into the body like a bone marrow transplant. 

Every second on the water felt like both an eternity and no time at all, and with Jay too cold to keep up his normal flow of chatter- why was it so important they bring the  _ reptile _ to the  _ arctic _ anyway?- Lloyd found himself just drawn into it. There was some sort of force radiating out from their destination, refracted in the ice around them. In comparison, he knew now the caves had had the same energy, but there it was weak and sickly while here it seemed to have built in on itself for who knows how many centuries and was now compacting under its own weight- it felt like that. anyway. His mind was kind of wandering now, getting sucked into the weird infinite emptiness of the environment. That weird sound didn’t help, either- it felt like there was someone talking into his ear but from just beyond the mists at the same time, impossible to actually form into a voice. Once or twice there had been the call of unseen birds, though there didn’t actually seem to be any animals this far out. 

In a moment, their destination was  _ there _ , splitting the gloom out of nowhere like someone turning on their hi-beams. It wasn’t entirely a real structure, but knowing it was a temple beforehand you could see it. Suspiciously regular cracks ran through the slabs, glowing faintly like a neat version of the markings along Jay’s body. There was a sort of ramp leading up to the entryway, so Wu just ran them aground, hurling one of the hooks further up to keep them in place. It wasn’t easy work getting up to the ‘door’ with Jay’s weight and no handholds, but Lloyd just managed. 

The heat in here was unbearable. He squinted in the dim light provided by the exposed magma pool, barely able to make out the thick chain hanging at the far end of the room. The chamber was ringed by a ledge, wide enough to walk easily but thin enough a slip could be fatal. The rightward path seemed safer, as the left one was occasionally streaked with cracks. His shadow on the wall was blown up hugely when he turned, and in his periphery it seemed strange, not quite copying his movements. About halfway along his curiosity got the best of him and he paused to test it, swinging his arm around a little. His shadow didn’t respond- it just seemed to be  _ growing _ , looming over him, and he realised abruptly that it  _ was _ \- it wasn’t the arch of the ceiling, it was literally peeling off the wall to reach for him. 

His shadow- someone else’s, really- grabbed him by the throat and he struggled as it lifted him off the ground, clawing at the not-so-insubstantial hand. Its fingers twitched and he gagged as his windpipe was pinched shut for a moment. The dry taste couple with the raw heat in the air was unbearable. The ‘shadow’ seemed to stare at him, now fully three-dimensional but still totally featureless. It stepped forward, bringing Lloyd to hang over the burning lake, and turned its head toward the chain. Without looking back at him, it jerked its arm and he was flung into the magma, too breathless to even scream. All he could get out was a sort of scraping noise and then that was it.

  
  
  
  


He woke up hot, as usual. It felt like the Shurikens of Ice were freezerburning a hole in his chest. Part of the dream had been mostly just his memory of yesterday, but the other part… Well, a dream. Looking for the Scythe and the Shurikens back to back  _ had _ left him wondering where the Sword and Nunchucks were supposed to be. Apparently not even his subconscious could figure out what a lightning temple was supposed to look like. 

He squinted at his watch. Just before six, so Wu would be coming to drag him to the dojo soon. Apparently now that they had all the titans his 'real training' could begin. Considering Lloyd got his ass kicked every time the old man tested him, he was  _ not _ willing to believe that was just warmups, but fine. The Organisation hadn't moved on them directly since that first day, but there was enough buzz about 'creepy people in suits' snooping around town that any training he could get was probably a good idea. Plus Wu had promised him the chance to use the car if he took this seriously, which was worth it on its own. That was way more pressing than dreams about shadow lava monsters or whatever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was sitting on another finished chapter again by accident cringe. Lloyd taking after Cole here having a death dream


End file.
